1. Scarring moxibustion. The main problems are as follows. (1) The pain during the process of giving moxibustion, the scar left after being given moxibustion, or the like is unacceptable. (2) Two or more acupoints may not be given moxibustion using only one moxa cone. If multiple acupoints are to be given moxibustion, multiple moxa cones have to be ignited at the same time. (3) There is a flame or a fire-point in the process of moxibustion treatment all the time, and it is easy to cause fire (for example, the conditioned reflex of limbs of people who receive moxibustion caused by the pain leads to the unexpected splash of the sparks of the moxa cones). (4) Moxibustion may not be given accurately to arbitrary acupoint all over the body, for example, moxibustion may hardly be given to positions such as armpit, perineum acupoint, and the like. (5) The smoke during burning is heavy, which pollutes the environment and causes physical harm as well.
2. Needle warming moxibustion. Needle warming moxibustion is an acupuncture manipulation that moxibustion is given at the needle handle when retaining the needle. The heat is introduced into body through the needle body when the mugwort floss is burning, exerts the synergistic effect of the needle and moxibustion, and is suitable for the diseases that need acupuncture and needle retaining as well as moxibustion. The existing problems are as follows. (1) The ash of Artemisiae Argyi Folium which is incompletely burned and still has sparks is easy to fall off in the burning process of the moxa cones, which burns the skin and causes unnecessary pain of people who receive moxibustion. (2) When moxibustion treatment is given, due to the limitation of the acupoints to which moxibustion is given, people who receive moxibustion are often required to lie flat on their backs or lie flat on their stomachs, therefore, it is also required that utensils such as beds or cushions are equipped during moxibustion, and it is also required that the operating space where moxibustion is given cannot be too narrow. (3) The smoke during burning is heavy. If moxibustion is not being dealt with appropriately, it is likely to seriously impair the respiratory system or the visual health of people who give moxibustion and people who receive moxibustion, and may it also cause different degrees of damage to the wall, furniture and the like in the house where moxibustion is given. (4) There is a flame or a fire-point in the process of moxibustion treatment all the time, and it is easy to cause fire (for example, the conditioned reflex of limbs of people who receive moxibustion caused by the pain leads to the unexpected splash of the sparks of the moxa cones). (5) It is required that the operator must be able to acupuncture the acupoints, and the difficulty of the operation is high.
3. Indirect moxibustion. Salt-partitioned moxibustion, ginger-partitioned moxibustion, garlic-partitioned moxibustion, green onion-partitioned moxibustion, medicinal cake-partitioned moxibustion, and the like are included. For example, the medicinal cake is set between the moxa cone and the acupoint, and the moxa cone is ignited and put on the medicinal cake to give moxibustion. The main problems are as follows. (1) The spacer needs to be thick, otherwise it is easy for the burning moxa cone to cause scald. However, the thickness may influence the distance between the moxa cone and the skin. Therefore, the therapeutic effect is limited. (2) The process of giving moxibustion relatively takes a long time, and people who receive moxibustion often need to keep a fixed pose for a long time, which is extremely easy to cause strain of muscle and tendon, thus leading to a situation of catching one and losing another. (3) The moxa cone set upon substances is not stable, and it is easy to cause unexpected accidents and even fire due to the shedding of the moxa cones. (4) Two or more acupoints may not be given moxibustion using only one moxa cone. If multiple acupoints are to be given moxibustion, multiple moxa cones have to be ignited at the same time. (5) When moxibustion treatment is given, due to the limitation of the acupoints to which moxibustion is given, people who receive moxibustion are often required to lie flat on their backs or lie flat on their stomachs, therefore it is required that utensils such as beds or cushions are equipped during moxibustion, and it is also required that the operating space where moxibustion is given cannot be too narrow.
4. Moxibustion by warming moxibustion apparatus. It is also referred to as warming moxibustion, which is actually one of the methods of medicated ironing. The existing problems are as follows. (1) The burning takes a long time, which produces a large amount of smoke, pollutes the environment and causes physical harm. (2) When using the warming moxibustion apparatus, strings are often needed to be used for fixation, thus it is easy to cause feeling of pressure to people who receive moxibustion, and even seriously hinder the blood circulation of the limbs of people who receive moxibustion. (3) Any warming moxibustion apparatus has a certain volume, if multiple sites need to be given moxibustion at the same time, it is required that multiple warming moxibustion apparatus are equipped, thus increasing the carrying burden of people who give moxibustion when they go out to give moxibustion.
5. Lamp moxibustion. When the lamp burns the skin of the acupoints, a slight “flap” sound may be heard, then the lamp is extinguished. This is referred to as one scorch. Generally, each acupoint is given moxibustion with only one scorch. There appears a slight blush locally after the moxibustion, and attention should be paid to cleaning to avoid infection. The existing problems are as follows. (1) There are many small burns at the fire of the moxibustion in this method and they are easy to be infected, as similar to the scarring moxibustion. (2) It is easy to drip during burning, which requires excellent techniques of the operators. (3) There is a flame or a fire-point in the process of moxibustion treatment all the time, and it is easy to cause fire (for example, the conditioned reflex of limbs of people who receive moxibustion caused by the pain leads to the unexpected splash of the sparks). (4) It is not convenient to use and carry.
6. Suspended moxibustion. The existing problems are as follows. (1) It stays a certain distance away from the skin. Although it is not easy to burn the skin, the distance may prevent the heat of the burning of moxa from going deep into the human body, the effect is greatly reduced, and this deficiency may be only compensated by prolonging the burning time (the duration of the moxibustion that aims at the acupoints of moxibustion should be sufficient, otherwise it is very difficult to achieve the expected effect). (2) The process of giving moxibustion takes too much time. If the people who give moxibustion give moxibustion by holding the moxa stick in hand, it will be labor intensive and very laborious, and with the decline of physical strength, it is extremely easy for people who give moxibustion give moxibustion to lose their concentration and burn the skin due to the unstable holding or the unconscious shake, thus causing unnecessary pain of people who receive moxibustion. It is also possible to deviate too far from the acupoints of moxibustion unconsciously so that the expected effect cannot be achieved. (3) For the ash of Artemisiae Argyi Folium which is incompletely burned and still has sparks, it is easy to fall off in the burning process of the moxa stick, burn the skin, and cause unnecessary pain of people who receive moxibustion. (4) People who receive moxibustion often need to keep a fixed pose for a long time, which may be extremely easy to cause the strain of muscle and tendon, thus leading to a situation of catching one and losing another.
7. Performing moxibustion by the above-mentioned traditional moxibustion methods utilizing the medicinal moxa stick. The existing problems are as follows. {circle around (1)} It is easy for drug powder to be mixed unevenly, which influences the exertion of the drug effects. {circle around (2)} An excessive amount of materials other than moxa is harmful to human body. Since moxibustion mainly takes advantage of the buming characteristics of Artemisiae Argyi Folium to perform moxibustion treatment and the burning characteristics of other materials are quite different from that of Artemisiae Argyi Folium, adding too much other materials may influence the effect of moxibustion, which does not conform to the traditional experience. Although the addition may be controlled by the amount of the drugs which are in the form of solid powder, the operation steps of this method is complicated. {circle around (3)} The drug ingredients may not be absorbed efficiently by human body, resulting in great waste.
8. The traditional moxibustion often needs to be operated with fire, which is the characteristic of moxibustion. Therefore, there is no motivation in this field to try to extinguish the moxa stick for use. Besides, if the fire is extinguished by water, it may cause sharp decrease of the temperature of the moxa stick, and the therapeutic effect may be greatly reduced; if physical manners such as blowing out are simply used, the moxa stick may smolder after the open fire is extinguished, which is easy to cause scald. Also, as for the dry moxa stick, it is very difficult to extinguish the smoldering charcoal fire. Therefore, in general, the moxa sticks are all ignited for use when performing moxibustion.
9. External application method. It is a method in which the drug is ground into fine powder, and a paste formulation is formulated using the fine power together with a variety of different liquids and applied to certain acupoints or the affected parts so as to treat diseases. Moxa is not burned during the application process of this method, therefore, this method does not belong to the category of moxibustion. The principle, application method and points for attention thereof are all different from those of moxibustion, so that they cannot be used in a mixed way. The existing problems are as follows. There is no need to ignite the wormwood during the application process, the temperature is low, and the therapeutic effect of wormwood cannot be completely exerted.